


Resourcefulness

by SerenePhenix



Series: Sensitive Re-Collection and Tales of a lonely Wanderer [10]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-02
Updated: 2013-02-02
Packaged: 2017-11-27 20:39:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/666267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerenePhenix/pseuds/SerenePhenix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When it came to the happiness of children, it was his duty to make every wheel turn so that they did not despair. But what if it was the very protectors of the young charges whose well-fare was at stake? Then it was just the same as with the children: He would do what he could to make them smile again. And he had, after all to make up for more than three hundred years of silence.</p><p>Eight part of the Sensitive Re-Collection Series and direct sequel to Helpless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Resourcefulness

Resourcefulness

Tsar Lunar was one of the few to have witnessed the last of the Golden Age thousands of years ago.  He had been but a mere child when his father and mother sought to bring him to safety, out of reach for Pitch Black, his Nightmare Men and Fearlings, who wanted to make him their prince.

Aboard the fastest crafts the Golden Age had ever seen, they made their escape but Pitch was far quicker than any of the Lunanoffs would have guessed. The battle that ensued sealed the threat away for many years but had left the young child orphaned and stranded on the broken Moon Clipper that the humans now referred to as the “Moon”.

He had grown up on the stationary transportation, knew it’s every corner and every room and things never had gotten boring with Moonbots, Glowworms and Lunar Moths as his companions on the lonely satellite.

Though as unimposing as his existence could be, it did not go unnoticed by the curious humans, who from time to time, though very rarely, saw him wandering the moon’s surface; with their formerly very small and by now very big telescopes.

These sightings earned him many names and the most commonly used would be “Man in the Moon”.

MiM had never minded that designation and even less its short form. MiM was the first Guardian to the children of the world. The children of earth had always been fascinating to him, a child too, who could not interact with them but still see what they liked to do, what they wished for, what their hopes were, what made them marvel, what made them laugh, what they found worth remembering and what they dreamed of.

And it was all of these things, many of which only the children were able to express and enjoy sincerely that made them worth being protected in his eyes. That was the beginning of his duty; one that he liked to carry out with all of his heart.

For many centuries MiM took it upon himself to choose others than himself to protect the children; bound to earth unlike he who could not leave the broken Moon Clipper. The first was Sandman, who just like him, stranded on earth because of Pitch. He was to become the Guardian of dreams. Next came others like Nicholas St. North, the Russian bandit who became Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy Toothania and E.Aster Bunnymund, the giant Pooka and bringer of Easter eggs and delicious chocolates.

Alongside these four Guardians, Tsar Lunar also chose many others: seasonal spirits, elemental spirits and the sort to bring happiness to the children and sometimes even the adults (who often tried to find the golden pot at the end of the rainbow and on very rare occasions were successful). One of these spirits was one Jackson Overland Frost, bringer of winter, ice and snow and as MiM had already decided upon reviving him in that dark cold lake the future Guardian of fun.

What he had not expected to happen upon this resurrection was the boy’s loss of his memories and even now MiM still was in doubt if what he had done was the right thing. He had learned a long time ago that some things happened for a reason and that sometimes it was better to let them unfold.

Still, three hundred and fifty years of silence might still have been hard on the boy with a playful streak and one of the kindest and most honest hearts he had seen in his inhumanly long life.

He had watched the snowy haired spirit, like he watched over every other, but never had his own feelings been so contradicting. He watched over him as he went through the world, all alone feeling betrayed by him and the people all around who could not see him but never growing rancorous (though somewhat resentful). He saw him fighting alongside the ones he had always been meant to be part of and persist against Pitch, gaining what he had always wanted most.

The years with his fellow Guardians were the most entertaining for MiM to watch but right now what he was seeing was not a joyous winter spirit that tinkered on something with Father Christmas, who sat on a roof with the Sandman, who spent time with a feathery woman he had come to love or an oversized Bunny he liked to tease and be taught different things by.

What MiM had been witnessing for the last few days was a heartbroken boy yearning for a friendship he had lost and he could not regain no matter what he tried; no matter what he sacrificed.

It pained him that the Guardian of fun had lost his smile for what seemed like forever. It pained him to see the other four try to ease the pain only to see their efforts go to naught as the youngest of their ranks would fly off every night only return as a silent shadow – unresponsive, detached and utterly cold.

The human Jamie had forgotten about the friendship he and the spirit of winter had shared. It was not his fault that his own body was failing him but the consequences still were catastrophic for the people that cherished him. Not only Jack.

It had been fifty years since MiM had revealed Jack’s true purpose to the other Guardians. Eversince; the boy had not failed in his duty and had tried his best at being a Guardian. Maybe it was time to show him that the effort was worth it; maybe it was time for MiM to do something as compensation for over three hundred years of not answering Jack’s calls.

Tsar Lunar turned away from his telescope and whisked a small corked bottle from a shelf to his right, running a thumb over the yellowed label. It had helped before, though only with little aches and pains that a young moth or a glowworm might get when they got too adventurous. There was no guarantee it would work with an ailment as severe as this.

Yet he would try for the sake of the happiness of the ones he had chosen to protect the children and for the one he thought might need that little ray of hope.

He left the room and made his way towards some place no human had ever seen. If he wanted this to succeed he would have to make preparations.

* * *

 

It was silent in the Warren, except for the barely audible scuffle of tiny little egg-feet running around, these eggs having been singled out for the great day much to their chagrin but unaware that they were actually supposed to be a present for a few very special guests.

Toothania, Sandy and North were already there waiting for Bunnymund to arrive with Sophie and her little granddaughter as well as Asters’ twins. It had become sort of a tradition that the eldest Bennets came to visit on the evening of Easter Sunday for a few hours and usually it always was a cause of rejoicing but the mood of the Guardians was a little dampened as they came to understand that most probably their youngest, Jack Frost, would not be attending the meeting tonight.

Tooth sighed as her violet eyes did not manage to catch a glimpse of a blue hoodie or feel a slight change of temperature that always came along with the bringer of winter. Over the last week she had tried everything to get Jack to be the bright and joyful character they had come to know him as but to no avail.

He might have opened up to her on that one night where they had held each other close on the bed but the next morning, when she woke up (she could not even recall falling asleep in the first place) she found the space next to her empty. They had looked for him, went to the lake in Burgess, mobilized fairies and asked other spirits but none had seen the mischief-maker.

It was only on the second day of his absence that they found him, passed out in a snow bank in the middle of nowhere. They had brought him back, tried once again to get anything out of him but he just ignored their pleading and scolding and flew off to MiM knew where.

It was Baby Tooth that communicated them that he had been at Jamie’s and that he probably was headed that way again.

Since then they had not tried to dissuade him anew. They just did not know how; not when Jack was building a wall of silence and indifference around him. Bunnymund found his behavior most irritating while North was puzzled as to what to do (and having looked through every spell-book that might help their situation). Sandy thought it was in Jack’s interest to give him time and space for the sorrow to dull. The one that was hurt most by his actions though was Tooth, seeing his silence as some sort of rejection even though she was well aware that she probably interpreted too much into Jack’s actions.

He was upset and hurt and so, did not act like his usual self.

She looked up when a small golden hand settled on her shoulder. She smiled sadly as Sandy squeezed lightly. She shook her head a bit to slacken her tense muscles of her neck before hearing the merry laughter of children coming through the tunnel showing the map of North America.

Three children going from age four to seven came running out of the gaping round entrance, giggling and smiling like there was no tomorrow. As soon as their brown and blue-green eyes fell on the other occupants of the large circus they came running towards them screaming different names and greetings and good wishes for Easter – all at the once.

The three Guardians smiled back at the two sand-blond and brown eyed twins, who were babbling and jumping excitedly towards them, a seven year old girl in tow who tried and failed to look like some teenager who was bugged by the younger children’s behavior. She was at least as excited as the young ones.

“It’s good to see all of you again.”, greeted Clara trying to give each of them a hug, something she had done ever since she had come to the Warren the first time four and a half years ago. When she was done keeping an eye out for someone she found missing. Surprised she raised both her blonde eyebrows.

“Where is Jack?”, she asked innocently.

Before any of the others could come up with a measly excuse Tooth smiled at her, trying her best at hiding that tremble in her voice as she replied without missing a beat: “He is busy at the moment with bringing a bit of snow to a place where hasn’t been in a while.”

It might be considered a lie but it wasn’t really one since before he went to visit Jamie Jack hadn’t seen the man in four years.

The blond girl frowned, she could tell there was something they did not tell her but she let it drop as the twins, took her by the hands and dragged her off to a place where the formerly saddened eggs were now trying to hide, making a game out of it.

At that time Sophie and Bunny decided to join their group, small and sincere smiles on their faces as they watched the children get onto their knees and crawl under the bushes.

Sophie looked tired and spent for a woman in her mid-fifties, with dark bags under her eyes and frowning lines showing on her forehead, her usual low ponytail looking messier than ever. Bunnymund hopped over as he understood that the eggs were trying to lead the kids away into a tunnel where they would undoubtedly end in a river full of bright paint.

It was silent, in a very uncomfortable way.

As Sophie made no move to join the fun, something that until now she always had done with as much vigor as the four year-old that had stumbled into the realm of spring by accident, did it occur to them just how much the illness of their human friend did drag down the people around him.

As the woman crossed her arms over her chest Tooth lowered a bit, hovering on eye-level and laid a hand on her shoulder as well, just like Sandy had done with her a few minutes ago. Sophie looked up, surprised as though she had just now understood she was not all by herself. It just made more obvious the turmoil inside her soul.

“We’ve heard about Jamie. We’re so sorry, sweety.”

There was shock in her eyes and a slight frown adorning her face, her mind scrambling madly, searching for an explanation as to how they could possibly know what was going on in the family. Suddenly it dawned on her and her expression softened.

“So Jack told you.”, she said tonelessly a very faint knowing smile on her lips. It was strange to see someone smile while talking about such a depressing issue but maybe it was all the girl could do at this point.

Before Tooth had any chance at answering North snorted.

“More like ‘e told Tooth. ‘E would not talk to us.”, he said dismally, a sulky undertone in his voice.

Sophie nodded, gaze returning towards the little group of four now playing under a shaded tree, the twins taking turns in riding on Bunnymund’s back while Clara tried to race him. She never stood a chance but for her the Easter Bunny would slow down a bit so she could keep up. He did not have the intention to crush her dream of becoming a runner.

Now that she knew Jack and Tooth were in a relationship it only was plausible for him to look for comfort from her. Who would have thought that the great trouble-maker and roaming winter spirit would get together with a busy and sometimes very absentminded fairy? Well, she had not seen it coming but most probably no one had.

While her thoughts drifted around that subject she took in every face she could find suddenly realizing that someone was missing. She searched the sky, looked back and forth startling the three people around her.

“Where is Jack by the way?”, she questioned, frowning, worry building up n the pit of her stomach.

Three pairs of eyes exchanged abashed looks before Toothania, whose feathers were very flat against her body replied meekly: “He probably won’t be coming today.”

Sophie’s eyes were downcast as she rubbed away at them discreetly.

“I see.”, she said, sniffing quietly but giving no other indication as to how stressed she was. Coming to the right conclusion that it was because of his encounter with Jamie was not difficult. She rolled her shoulders and huddled deeper into her coat which should be way too warm right now but refused to take it off.

“I should have stood my ground and not taken him.”, she said, hand clenching tightly at her chin and mouth. She could hear her own voice trembling. She didn’t even know why she was telling them this. They should not have to worry; they should not feel as concerned as they probably did. It would be better if they weren’t, it would be like imposing on them she figured.

But on the other side, she felt so alone. If only her husband were still there…

Panic was building up in the others as they saw the woman in their midst slowly begin to crumble. A cheery laughter drew near as Bunny returned holding two smiling twins at each of his paw while Clara followed, arms loaded with eggs. The Pooka stopped shortly as he could smell the uneasiness hanging in the air, his green eyes landing on Sophie.

In no time did he give the others a sign with a jerk of his head and turned towards the children again: “You know what? Why don’t ya all go with the others and look for some chocolate? It’s hidden all over the Warren. What do ya’ say?”

Jason and his brother Sandy bounded up and down running towards North Sandy and Tooth pulling at their hands, arms and coat also bounding off towards some direction they decided suited their search best. Clara stood undecidedly looking between her grandmother and the retreating group. Bunny gazed into her eyes and nodded his head towards the larger group. Reluctantly, Clara deposited the eggs they had found on the ground and turned her back to them.

When she and the others were out of sight Bunny turned towards the woman who still stood on the same spot but was trembling slightly. Bunny put his two paws on her shoulder and guided her towards a flat stone where she could sit down. He crouched down next to her, weight resting on his hind-legs as he rubbed at her arm to make her feel better. She just shook harder.

“Hey, ankle-biter, what’s wrong?”, he said soothingly. Of course he knew what was wrong but maybe it was more appropriate to ask rather than impose.

Sophie snuffled before hastily taking a handkerchief out of the pocket of her coat and blowing into it noisily. Tears were gathering in her green eyes as she tried to avert her gaze too ashamed to break down like this when actually she should be watching over the children.

“Is it because of Jamie?”, Bunny finally asked, trying to get her to open up. He could literally see her bursting from the inside.

Her eyes turned back towards him in a flash, her lips quivering violently. A sob escaped her and another and another. Handkerchief pressed over her face with both hands she wept, taking in short breaths that came out like whines while rocking on the stone. Bunny said nothing and just sat with her stroking her hair and making sure she did not slip off the rock and fall.

It took Sophie awhile until she had regained her composure but once she was done the pressure and tension that had been radiating off of her was gone.

“I’m sorry.”, she apologized drawing up a corner of her mouth in a lopsided smirk, “I needed that. Thank you.”

Bunny just shook his head. “No need ta’. We all have to let I’ out once in a while.” He waited, letting her blow her nose again, so that she did not sound so stuffy anymore.

“But really, is it that bad?”

Sophie nodded, now able to talk without having to fear that she would break down so violently again.

“He doesn’t recognize me anymore, nor Cupcake or his sons.”, she said picking an aster that grew next to her and twirling it between her fingers. She often did that when she was looking for inspiration in her work as a decorator.

Bunnymund winced, while he came into a sitting position that clearly was the one of a bunny. Oh how Jack would have loved to tease him about that.

“How is Cupcake takin’ it?”, he wanted to concentrate on Sophie but still, the woman also was still believing in them so he could not ignore that little voice in the back of his mind that urged him to ask about her well-being.

Not stopping her twirling Sophie went on: “I can’t tell. She is very strong but I don’t see her very often anymore. I guess she also struggles with the situation. Especially now after Jack and Aster have started arguing with each other again. You still remember them, don’t you?”

Bunny nodded. Of course he would remember both boys, one of which was his namesake. It still touched him that Jamie had honored them in this way.

“Anyway,” Sophie continued her brows furrowing a little, “there was a fight between them. As much as I know, Jack blames Aster and his mother for what happened to their father because of their ‘little dreams’ and ‘unnecessary believes’.”

The aster fell to the ground and she retrieved it, begging to pluck at its petals. Bunny stayed silently. It was sad how Jack’s namesake vehemently tried to convince his family that they all didn’t exist.

Irony seemed to pick its favorites.

 But at least there was still Aster, who on the other hand did everything in his power to keep his and the toddlers’ believe alive. He even had brought back the belief to his wife after she had already stopped believing for years.

And again: the irony of it all.

The Easter spirit’s musings were interrupted by Sophie’s voice.

“There are also the bills to pay. I already offered her to pay a quarter of the price for the care home but she does not want to hear any of it. She thinks that I already have enough problems with being alone and everything.”

The hidden message behind those words was not hard to decode. Sophie had had a very happy marriage but it only lasted around twenty years when her husband died in a shooting. Bunny still saw the devastated woman in front of him and it always sent a wave of sadness, anger and pity through him. He had also witnessed his own race’s downfall. He knew what it felt like to lose something by force. But at least she had her children, who to his knowledge did not have or cause any problems and he had his little family of companions even if he did not say that out loud.

His ears were erect when she sighed and combed back a few strands of hair.

“You know what’s worst?”, she said looking off into the distance “It was Jack’s face when he saw Jamie flailing and shouting. He looked so horrified and I just wonder: Do I look the same every time I see my brother like that?”

Bunnymund did not have an answer for that one. Instead he took her hand and squeezed it. Their eyes met.

“Ya’ know, actions speak louder than words. You’re a good sister and it is remarkable how ya’ still stick ta’ Jamie even when I’ gets tough. An’ honestly, I’d also be terrified if any of ta’ othas’ acted like that.”

Her green eyes were bright and suddenly she leapt into his arms, hugging him tightly and stroking the fur on his back.

“Thank you.”, she whispered still holding onto him, unaware that soon many of her problems would be solved.

* * *

 

At the same time, far away from the warmth of the Warren, Jack Frost was flying towards a brick building sitting between trees in the middle of nowhere away from any large cities.

It was cold and the sky had already darkened but Jack wanted to go anyway. He had no urge to be anywhere but with his friend and first believer. He had wanted to come earlier but had been too tired to go on. Not that that would have stopped him but the wind had made it clear that he either rest or he would be dropped on the highest mountain in the Rockies.

Seeing that he would never be able to cover that distance in time he had relented although grudgingly and with a good amount of sarcasm. But he knew better than to test his luck with the wind, like he had done once before and paid dearly by being stuck on the ground for a few weeks.

And he absolutely had to be there on time. Fifty years of friendship to a day. It meant everything to him to get there even though he had come to the complex all the previous days. Not that Jamie knew of it.

He was silent as he landed on the sill of the half-closed window, light as a snowflake. By now he had figured out how he could open the window once it was like this, you just had to give it one good pull and push and voilà, open it is for any spirit to enter. Jack was about to do just that when a strange light caught his eye. Squinting his eyes against the darkness he looked more closely and there it was – a feeble light next to his friends face, white and pure as the moon’s rays. It clicked in his head as he understood that it was a Moonbeam he was looking at.

Strange for a Moonbeam to go astray like this; maybe it was lost.

 It was when Jack suddenly saw a shadow appear out of nowhere next to the bed that he became frantic. He all but threw himself against the window, opening it and already he was facing the fiend his shepherds crook pointed towards what would be its head. He growled as the thing that looked surprisingly human did not move but seemed to look his way.

North had told Jack about Nightmare Men and the prospect of fighting one with Jamie being in the same room was something that Jack did not want to envision.

“Who are you and what do you want with Jamie?”, he barked, icy-blue eyes narrowed into slits as he adjusted his grip on the staff.

The silhouette slowly raised both hands in a pacific way, guiding one towards his head. At first Jack did not understand what he wanted but understood once he remembered having seen the same motion being carried out by one other very golden person he knew a million times before.

Seeing that Jack had understood his message to stay silent he stepped forward out of the shadows and into the light of the moon, the Moonbeam seeming to follow him.

Before Jack stood a boy that could have been his doppelganger, but just on first glance. It was a white-haired boy, wiry, with a staff in his hands but which instead of a crook had a diamond dagger at its tip and inside that dagger shone the light of a small Moonbeam Jack had seen from the beginning.

The one thing that was the main difference were his eyes, light-blue and full wisdom from a life far longer than the one Jack had lived until now. He smiled brightly with eyes closed and his head cocked to the side, rocking back and forth on his heels before suddenly leaping into the air, rotating and coming to land next to Jack’s right.

Jack jumped to the left while the stranger eyed him like one of the many children who saw him for the first time before smiling again and nodding to himself silently.

He made his way back to the bed but this time the Moonbeam gave off a stronger glow so that he was still visible in everything he did.

Jack lowered his staff, watching his every move as he stood beside Jamie. The boy, if Jack could even call him one, was not one of Pitch’s creations, that was for sure. But one could never be careful enough. He could see the guy rummage through a sling bag he was carrying around his waist, which seemed comically tiny in comparison to his armored shoulders. In the back of his mind something was telling him he should know who that person was but as soon as a name came up it vanished, out of his mind and grasp.

Jack watched, leaning on his staff, hoping that the newcomer would go away soon. He did not even know what he wanted here.

“So why are you here?”, he said irritably, annoyed by the other’s mere presence. The boy looked up but did not answer. Jack figured he was like Sandy - a spirit that did not talk or refused to.

“Are you a seasonal?”, Jack asked, seeing that there was nothing he could do to chase away his new acquaintance without causing ruckus.

The other shook his head jovially and continued to search in another pouch. Jack sighed and just continued the little game.

“You have a holiday?”

A hand scratching the back of his head the spirit thought for a moment and shook his head no.

“Are you from America?”

Another shake.

“From Europe? Asia?...Australia maybe?”

The spirit shook its head three times just grinning.

Jack stroked his chin, the game having gotten interesting now. He had met a lot of spirits since he became a Guardian and even before that he had crossed path with a few but that did not mean he knew all of them. Maybe this was one of them.

His eyes took in the boy’s pale hair and dark clothes.

“Could you by any chance be a spirit of the night?”, Jack asked, voice uncertain.

The spirit was about to shake its head once again when suddenly he stopped then he made a motion that could pass as a ‘maybe’. Jack concentrated until he saw the spirit jabbing a finger at his chest and holding up one finger nodding and holding up a second finger and shaking his head again.

After fifty years of playing charade with the Sandman, Jack had no problem deciphering the message.

“So your name begins with ‘night’?”, he ascertained starting to pace.

The spirit beamed, nodding with so much enthusiasm that Jack was afraid its head would fall off. Lost in thought he began pacing searching his memory for the name of a spirit going by a name beginning with ‘night’. His ill feelings forgotten over the little fun he had with this guessing game.

Nightbringer? No, that sounded strange even to his ears. Nightcaster? Nope, did not fit. Night…Night…

Jack’s eyes fell on the full moon again and suddenly that memory that had been nagging at the back of his mind returned. It couldn’t be. He turned around just in time to see Nightlight sprinkling some sort of silver dust over Jamie’s sleeping face.

Jack stared wide eyed at the boy that had accompanied North, Bunny and the others on their many adventures against Pitch. Tsar Lunar’s bodyguard nodded slowly, his mile wide and kind; making Jack realize he had actually said the other’s name out loud without meaning to. He couldn’t believe he was in one room with the same boy (or man) North liked to talk about when he was telling stories from the past.

The moment of awe was broken by Jamie coughing three times. The adult was suddenly up, startling both of them. Jack was instantly at Jamie’s side as the man took huge gulps of air as though he had been under water too long and needed fresh air. Nightlight chose that moment to jump onto the window sill. Jack looked back at him desperate, wanting to know what he had done to his friend but the expression the other’s face silenced him.

“You should know.” he said and the sound of his voice was like bells to Jack, laughter ringing in it, “MiM does care a lot.”

And with that he was gone into the night, leaving no trace or evidence of having disturbed the adult’s rest or having sent Jack’s feelings reeling with these simple words. Jack’s attention went back to his friend who coughed into both his hands until suddenly his fit stopped. He blinked once, twice before his eyes fell onto the boy kneeling next to him, looking paler than ever.

“Jack?”, Jamie asked in bewilderment, eyes trying to focus.

Jack’s mouth fell open. There was a long moment of silence before he leapt up nearly knocking Jamie off his bed. The man yelped not having anticipated getting a bone-crushing hug from his friend.

“Jack what’s going on? Why are you…”, he stopped short as he heard a loud sob coming from his chest where Jack had buried his face. But the sob was in no way sad, it was accompanied by laughter.

“You remember.”, Jack first whispered into the blue fabric of his pajama before looking up revealing a radiant smile and eyes overflowing with tears of joy and repeating these two words over and over again until he was done. By then Jamie’s old father had kicked in and he held Jack with one arm around the boy’s shoulders, like he used to do with Aster and Jackson.

Jack rubbed away the last remains of his tears with the back of his hand looking up at his friend.

“I’m so glad you’re back.”, he said cherishing the moment.

Jamie looked thoughtful.

“I can’t say that I’ve been away.”, he replied sounding confused “Everything is hazy. I cannot remember what happened after I came home from my meeting. What happened anyway? And where are we? Looks like a hospital to me.”

Jack gulped unsure if it really was the best to tell his friend but shaking off that feeling quickly.

“You had Alzheimer disease.”, Jack answered quietly not wanting to look into Jamie’s face, too scared to find eyes again that did not see him but someone else entirely.

“We are at a care home right now. It’s really nice, you know. Cupcake and Sophie made sure of that.”

The silence stretched and Jack could feel the arm on his shoulder clench and unclench several times.

“How…how long ago was that?”

Finally Jack lifted Jamie’s arm off of him and turned to face the adult.

“That you succumbed to the disease? If I remember correctly what Sophie said,” he counted on his fingers while whispering months under his breath, making Jamie nervous “ Five months ago.”

Jamie let out a long breath he didn’t know he’d been holding in all of this time. Sure five months was long time but better than five years.

“What did you do to help me?”

Jack shook his head smiling, nodding towards the open window and up to the moon.

“Not me.”, he said.

Jamie looked out of the window before bowing his head in thanks. He didn’t know if the Man in the Moon was watching but he thought that it was the least he could do to show his gratitude.

Without a warning Jack shot out of bed looking like he had recalled something very important.

“Sophie!”, he shouted getting a hold of his staff before grabbing Jamie by the wrist and pulling him up with a force no one would thought him capable of, “We gotta let her know! She will be so happy!”

The teenager was practically dancing through the confined space of the room.

“Jack... Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack!”, Jamie pleaded grabbing the twirling boy by his hood and making him face him. It didn’t stop the winter spirit from beaming from ear to ear. “Can I change first?”

He smiled goofily as he looked at his pajamas.

After he had changed in a bathroom that went with his room, Jamie came out dressed in a simple brown jeans and a loose checkered shirt he had found in a small wardrobe on the other side of the room. Jack was sitting by the window waiting already, a glowing magical snowball in hand. He looked so content that Jamie was sure Sophie would have loved to draw him.

“Are we ready?”, Jack asked getting up while tossing around their portal.

“I think so. I can’t wait to see my sister.”, he went quiet for a moment. “Are you sure they will still be at the Warren at this time?”

Jack threw the globe against a wall, shattering it and opening a portal to said place.

“On an Easter Sunday?”, he countered throwing him a toothy grin before jumping into the swirl of green, blue and white while dragging along the adult.

They were tossed around for a split second before their feet landed on soft grass. Laughter was filling the air of the Warren and eight faces came into view.

“You bet.”

* * *

 

 MiM smiled as he saw through one of his many old and powerful devices how two families united again, each in their own way but the joy was equally big.

And if he looked very closely he might be able to see lips belonging to grateful blue eyes and pale face whispering a ‘Thank you’ towards the sky.


End file.
